As OpenStack users build or migrate more applications and services for private cloud deployment, users are expanding their plans for how these deployments will be serviced by non-core, emerging components. Based on the April 2016 OpenStack User Survey (see page 35), Trove is among the top “as a service” non-core components that OpenStack users are deploying or plan to deploy on top of the core components. This comes as no surprise, as every application requires a database, and Trove provides OpenStack with an integrated Database-as-a-Service option that works smoothly with the core OpenStack services.

Recently, Red Hat and Tesora jointly announced that we have collaborated to certify Tesora Database as a Service (“DBaaS”) Platform on the Red Hat OpenStack Platform. When we at Red Hat announced our strategic decision to focus our development and contribution efforts on the core OpenStack services, we did so with confidence, due in large part to our expanded relationship with Tesora. Tesora is a recognized thought leader and the top contributor to upstream OpenStack Trove. They understand the needs of the Trove community, but more importantly, they have a reputation for understanding and focusing on the needs of the those developing and supporting applications running in a heterogeneous database environment. Adding the Tesora DBaaS Platform as a certified workload on top of Red Hat OpenStack Platform addresses our customer requirements and provides an immediate, production-ready DBaaS option that can be deployed within their current Red Hat OpenStack Platform 8 and higher environments.

What’s New?

From a technical and operational standpoint, this move offers users the following benefits:

The Tesora DBaaS Platform is now tested and certified as a supported workload on top of Red Hat OpenStack Platform 8 and higher. From a technical standpoint, the Tesora solution is fully compatible with the core OpenStack service APIs and includes all upstream features and bug fixes. The Tesora Trove controller is a drop-in replacement for the upstream Trove controller so users can more easily move to the Tesora solution with minimal effort.

Tesora has addressed the database “golden” image building and maintenance problem. Most organizations use multiple database platforms depending on their specific business needs. Building, tuning, securing, and maintaining each database platform requires a specific DBA skillset and some level of administrative time and effort. Cloud-enabled DBaaS enables DBAs and developers to be more productive in these areas, but there is still a gap when it comes to creating, testing and maintaining “golden” images for each database platform used in a heterogeneous environment. The OpenStack Trove community provides tooling for this in the form of disk-image-builder (“DIB”).

While DIB is functional and enables the development of standardized database images, it is very verbose and complex to maintain, specifically for images created for operating systems that are commercially supported and maintained, such as Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL); in short, updating DIB-rendered images often is difficult and time-consuming.

Tesora's CLI and Dashboard make database creation and administration quicker and easier across different database platforms. The biggest challenge most DBAs and developers face is managing and monitoring the databases under their care. Tesora provides a rich set of CLI commands, APIs, and a web-based GUI that provide a common interface across heterogeneous platforms. Users are shielded from syntax and platform specifics, so they can focus on the “what” they need to do vs the “how” they will do it for things like backup and recovery, database creation, configuration, replication, and clustering.

Tesora's DBaaS can be deployed on top of an existing Red Hat OpenStack Platform 8 and higher. Users can gain the immediate benefits of DBaaS with little to no change to their existing Red Hat OpenStack Platform deployment. As mentioned earlier, the Tesora solution is fully compatible with the core OpenStack (and Red Hat OpenStack Platform) service APIs. Red Hat users can easily install and configure the Trove DBaaS controller, dashboard, database images with minimal disruption to the other OpenStack services. For new and existing Red Hat OpenStack Platform deployments installations, there are some things that should be taken into consideration:

Red Hat OpenStack Platform director is used to deploy and upgrade the OpenStack core components. Users who choose not to use director to deploy and upgrade Red Hat OpenStack Platform will have a different support and upgrade path from those who do.

Tesora deployment and upgrades have yet to be integrated with Red Hat OpenStack Platform director. Tesora provides installation and upgrade guides for manually deploying and upgrading Tesora DBaaS Platform on top of an existing Red Hat OpenStack Platform installation. Director integration is in the works, but Tesora has provided no delivery timeframe on when this will happen.

Red Hat and Tesora are collaborating to support our joint customers. While you will need a support agreement with each of us, the support experience should be pleasant.

I speak for everyone at Red Hat and Tesora when I say we believe this certification and ongoing collaboration will bring tremendous benefit and value add to our customer base from both a technical and business standpoint and we look forward to your feedback.